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12 Questions with rising NASCAR driver Erik Jones

Our series of weekly NASCAR driver interviews continues with Erik Jones, the up-and-coming Joe Gibbs Racing driver who got his first Sprint Cup Series experience Sunday as an emergency fill-in for Denny Hamlin.

Our series of weekly NASCAR driver interviews continues with Erik Jones, the up-and-coming Joe Gibbs Racing driver who got his first Sprint Cup Series experience Sunday as an emergency fill-in for Denny Hamlin.

Q: If NASCAR allowed you to listen to music while you were racing, would you want to?

A: That's an interesting question, because I sing to myself sometimes in the car. I've never listened to music in the race car before. I'd give it a try though; I think it'd be something fun to see what would happen.

Sometimes I find myself daydreaming when we're driving along and I have to kind of snap back into it, so it might kind of break my focus. So I don't know if that would be a good idea.

What kind of songs do you sing to yourself?

Whatever the song of the week is. I'll get stuck on a song and I'll listen to it non-stop for like a week, and then I'll get so tired of it that I can't listen to it again.

Q: Where did your first paycheck come from?

A: Like a true pay stub? I was working for my dad, actually. I want to say I was like 13 and I was saving for my first car. He owned a Corvette business up in Michigan and sold Corvette parts. I was working for him in the warehouse, picking parts.

Q: Who is an autograph you got as a kid that seemed to be a big deal to you at the time?

A: Tony Stewart. I remember it vividly. I went to a Home Depot that was like an hour from my house and waited in line for what seemed like forever — probably an hour and a half or two hours.

He was just like the coolest guy I'd ever met at the time. I was racing Quarter Midgets at the time and brought a picture of me racing to show it to him. We had raced in the parking lot of the Brickyard (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) and that was the picture.

He saw it and wished me good luck, and at the time — I was 8 or 9 years old — that was a huge deal! He was like, "Hey man, good luck, keep doing it." That was just the coolest thing ever for me.

You know, I've never met Tony again after that. I'd bring it up to him if I had the chance to. But it was just cool he was one of the few guys who would take the time to do that, and that's something I've never forgotten.

Q: Where's a place you've never been that you'd like to go visit?

A: My dad and I were talking about this just the other day, and I said I'd like to go to Italy. Traveling out of the country kind of freaks me out, so it's like, "Where would you really want to go?" And if I could go anywhere, Italy would be pretty cool to see.

Q: Do people ever accuse you of being addicted to your phone?

A: I've never really gotten that. I was pretty bad about it a few years ago and I used to have to charge my phone four times a day, but now I'm a little bit better about it. I've weaned myself off of it. I try to enjoy more human interaction now.

(Laughs) You know, I don't know. I think I've just kept myself busier most of the time. Back in those days I was so bored that I sat on my phone half the day, but now I have a few more things to keep me occupied.

Q: If a genie promised you a Cup championship in exchange for never being able to do your favorite hobby again, would you accept that offer?

A: Yeah, because my favorite hobby right now is golf and I'm terrible at it. So absolutely. It would spare me the pain of showing up at the golf course every day and wondering why I don't hit it any better. (Laughs)

Q: What's your preferred method of dealing with an angry driver after a race?

A: I had an incident with Ryan Blaney at Las Vegas a few weeks back, and he called me right away — an hour or two right after the race, when I wasn't even back to my hotel yet. And I really respected that. That's something that definitely isn't easy to do for the driver who is at fault — and I've been on that end, too. So calling is the way I'd like to be able to take care of it. I think that shows respect being able to talk to a guy that soon after.

It's never easy to talk to a driver and really share your side of the story. But at the same time, you can't let it go and get into a battle where you're just going to wreck each other back and forth. That's never a good thing.

Q: Do you ever get mistaken for another driver or celebrity?

A: I never did until I went to Atlanta (in March) and I was wearing Kyle (Busch's) Monster firesuit. I had one guy who was walking behind me and he was like, "Kyle. Kyle! KYLE!" Finally I turned around and he was like, "Hey, can you sign this, man?" He never even corrected himself.

I signed it as Erik. I wasn't going to forge Kyle's signature. (Laughs)

Q: If you had a time machine and you could travel to any year and race, where would you go?

A: I'd love to go back to the '70s. I think that was a really, really pure time in racing. It was just man and machine, where they'd just get in and drive it. That's something I'd like to experience. I might try it and say, "Please take me back to 2015 right now!" But I'd love to have a shot and see what it was all about.

Q: Would you rather have the ability to fly or be invisible?

A: Well, how fast could I fly?

As fast as you wanted. Like Superman.

Oh, I'd definitely pick flying then. Flying on planes is the worst. So I'd just fly back and forth from the races myself.

Q: I've been asking each person to give me a question for the next interview. The last interview was with Trevor Bayne, and he wanted to know: What's something about your current situation you'd like to remind yourself of in the future?

A: The biggest thing is to remember how cool it is now when people come up and ask for autographs and know your name. If I ever make it to Cup and at some point everybody knows my name and wants an autograph, I don't want to forget how much I wanted people to say, "Hey Erik, will you sign this?" That's pretty cool somebody wants my autograph, and that's something you never want to forget. I think some people do forget it along the way.

People don't always remember how important the fans are. At one time, I was that fan. And I'd hate when I'd go to a driver and he'd act like he wasn't going to give me the time of day. That was just the worst thing in the world for me. So I definitely don't want to forget that.

Q: And do you have a question I can ask the next driver?

A: Can you tell me when you know who it is? That would make it easier on me.

Q: Finally, how did this interview go on a scale of 1-10?

A: Probably a 10, because I could answer all of the questions really easily. (Laughs)

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Kurt Busch, addressing the media at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 12, was suspended by NASCAR eight days later after a Delaware family court commissioner issued a no-contact order against him stemming from a domestic abuse claim made by his former girlfriend.
Peter Casey, USA TODAY Sports

Feb. 15: Jeff Gordon and his wife, Ingrid Vandebosch, celebrate after Gordon won the pole for the 2015 Daytona 500 in a controversial group qualifying session. Gordon announced in January that 2015 will be his last full-time season in NASCAR's premier series.
Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

Feb. 21: Safety crews attend to Kyle Busch, whose car slammed into an unprotected wall during the Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Busch broke his right leg and left foot and the safety debate began raging again.
Andrew Weber, USA TODAY Sports

March 1: Front Row Motorsports driver David Ragan moved over to Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 18 Toyota for Kyle Busch, who was recovering from injuries suffered in a crash at Daytona. Ragan's first race with JGR was at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images

March 1: For the second week in a row, a NASCAR driver crashed into an unprotected concrete wall. This time it was Jeff Gordon (24) and Denny Hamlin (not shown) during the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Gordon met with NASCAR officials March 10 to discuss safety initiatives.
Russell Norris, AP

March 8: After missing the first two races of the season recovering from heart surgery, Brian Vickers returned to racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Two weeks later, Michael Waltrip Racing announced the driver would be sidelined again because of a recurrence of blood clots.
Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports

March 22: Kevin Harvick, front, finished second at the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, Calif., extending his streak of top-two finishes to eight consecutive races. The streak would end the following week at Martinsville Speedway.
Doug Pensinger, Getty Images

March 28: Kyle Larson was hospitalized after fainting at Martinsville Speedway following an autograph session. Larson missed the STP 500 at Martinsville the following day. He was released Monday night and completed 'extensive testing' Tuesday.
Andrew Weber, USA TODAY Sports

April 19: Denny Hamlin drove 22 laps of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway when rains halted the race. When the race restarted hours later, 18-year-old Erik Jones was behind the wheel of the No. 11 Toyota after Hamlin pulled out because of neck spasms.
Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images

April 24: A scary fire erupted on pit road during the Xfinity Series race at Richmond International Raceway, sending crew members from Brendan Gaughan's No. 62 team and Eric McClure's No. 24 team to a hospital.
Skip Rowland, AP

May 16: Kyle Busch returned to racing at the the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway after missing almost three months with a broken right leg and left foot.
Randy Sartin, USA TODAY Sports

June 7: Martin Truex Jr. wins at Pocono Raceway to break a 69-race winless streak dating nearly two years. The following week at Michigan International Speedway, Truex became the first driver since Richard Petty in 1969 to record 14 top-10 finishes through the first 15 races.
Matthew O'Haren, USA TODAY Sports

July 6: Austin Dillon's No. 3 Chevrolet flies into the catchfence at Daytona International Speedway after cars crossed the finish line in the Coke Zero 400. Dillon's car was ripped apart but he walked away from the crash uninjured.
Reinhold Matay, USA TODAY Sports

July 9: Ben Kennedy crashes into the fence and wall at Kentucky Speedway during the Camping World Truck Series race. Kennedy's crash was the second in one week which saw a vehicle slam into the catchfence.
Jeff Curry, Getty Images

July 26: Jeff Gordon (24) hits the wall while trying to avoid a spinning Clint Bower (not shown) during The Jeff Kyle 400 at The Brickyard in his final race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gordon is NASCAR's career leader at the track with five wins.
Jasen Vinlove, USA TODAY Sports

July 26: Kyle Busch celebrates with wife Samantha, son Brexton, and team owner Joe Gibbs after winning the Jeff Kyle 400 at The Brickyard for his first win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The victory was Busch's third in a row and fourth in the past five races.
Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports

Sept. 11: Denny Hamlin arrived at Richmond International Raceway on crutches after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on Sept. 8. One week later, Hamlin would go on to win the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland Speedway.
Amber Searls, USA TODAY Sports

Sept. 20: Kevin Harvick (4) spins after contact with Jimmie Johnson (48) a few laps earlier cut his tire during the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland Speedway. Harvick finished 42nd and punched Johnson in the chest after the race when Johnson tried to apologize.
Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images

Sept. 23: Clint Bowyer was docked 25 points and crew chief Billy Scott was suspended for three races and fined $75,000 after the team was found to have violated a rule in during inspection at Chicagoland Speedway. The penalty erased his result in the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, leaving him last in the standings entering Chase race 2 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Josh Hedges, Getty Images